The View from Above

This story was inspired by the heroic life of Harriet Tubman who helped many slaves gain freedom during harsh times.

Way back in the times of discrimination between African Americans and Caucasians, another form of hatred was taking place. The turtledoves were mistreating and disputing with the black sparrows. The doves were a pearly, silky white, while the sparrows were blacker than night. All the sparrows were considered inferior and, as a result, were forced to perform manual labor for the turtledoves. They had to make the doves’ nests and they had to gather all the doves’ food from the fields and forests that surrounded their territory. It was impossible for the sparrows to escape, for their charcoal black feathers could be seen from miles away. The sparrows were treated as property and were exchanged from one owner to another at the mere expense of food and tradable goods.

Every morning when the sun first rose beyond the horizon and the doves were up and chirpin’, the sparrows were up and workin’. To pass time they sung beautiful melodies from the soul to tell their story. The doves didn’t pay much attention to their songs, for they knew that the sparrows could only dream of freedom. When the sun settled below the mountains, the sparrows would leave the fields and head back to their perches, only to have to wake the next morning and do it all over again. Their perches were really tree branches that happened to grow into the cage in which they were enclosed. Each and every night they suffered form terrible weather conditions and lived without the many luxuries that the doves took for granted.

Among the family of sparrows was a young girl named Serenity. She was enslaved ever since the doves separated her from her birth parents. Serenity dreamed of freedom far more than the others, for she’d never flow past the plantation’s boundaries. She prayed for a miracle, yet her prayers went unanswered.

Since Serenity was so young and weak, she was forced to care for the doves’ children. Even though Serenity had a drastically easier job than all the others, she still understood the meaning of freedom. She spent so much time around the doves, that she often overheard their conversations. Serenity learned that all of the other sparrows’ cages were locked at night so that they would not be able to escape under the cover of darkness. Then, the next morning, Serenity was forced to take the dove children out for a fly around the woods. The dove children tired quickly and they needed to rest in a nearby oak tree. Families of pigeons also rested in the tree and were enjoying a meal together. You see, the pigeons were from the north and never heard of slavery before. They told Serenity that up north, sparrows and doves and hawks and such all lived in harmony and peace. They agreed to help Serenity and her family to escape during the night and fly to the north where they would be granted their freedom once and for all. Serenity called this operation the ‘Underground Airport’. She then flew the dove children home snuck out to the fields to tell the others. The plan was that she would take the keys to the cages when the doves were not looking, then she would arrange for safe-branches to be ready so that they would be able to stop and rest during the daytime. The curtain of darkness fell and all went as planned. They flew faster than they had ever flown before. They stayed below the tree line and stopped at trees had a hummingbird etched into their bark. While at the safe-branches, the pigeons fed and nourished the sparrows. Two nights later, they made it to the north and were free.

This story isn’t quite over yet. Serenity returned to the south multiple times and helped set hundreds of sparrows free with help for her pigeon companions. Eventually, Serenity settled down and started a family of her own. Her legacy still lives on and now sparrows and doves live in harmony to the north, the south, the east and the west.

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